Buckle



March 5, 1957 s. F. STEIN 2,783,516

BUCKLE Filed Feb. 13, 1953 2| FIGS I8 IN V ENTOR United States PatentBUCKLE Samuel F. Stein, Milton, Pa.

Application February 13, 1953, Serial No. 336,657

1 Claim. (Cl. 24-198) The present invention relates to belts and moreparticularly it pertains to the novel construction of the buckle and theassembly thereof with the belting material to provide a belt especiallysuited for the interior waist portion of mens trousers, as described inmy Patent No. 2,538,631 issued January 16, 1951.

The buckle constructed in accordance with my present invention may befabricated of a single piece of material, thus eliminating theassembling operation of the buckle; it may be formed of sheet metal orplastic by stamping or molding and the buckle may be easily attached tothe belting material without the employment of any special tools ormechanism of any kind and the belt may be conveniently closed when onthe body of the wearer and released when desired.

Other advantages of the invention will be apparent from the followingspecification and the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates the front view of a buckle embodying my invention;

Figure 2 illustrates the buckle shown in Figure l, as being attached toone end portion of the belting material;

Figure 3 illustrates a portion of a belt having a buckle and showing theopposite end portion of the belt engaged with the buckle as when aroundthe Waist portion of the wearer;

Figure 4 illustrates the buckle in engaged relation with the belting aswhen the waist circumference of the wearer is reduced;

Figure 5 illustrates the belting material having perforations suitablyspaced through its entire length;

- Figure 6 is a sectional view on line 6-6 of Figure 3;

Figure 7 illustrates a modified buckle construction;

Figure 8 illustrates the modified buckle as being attached to one endportion of the belting material and the opposite end portion thereofbeing engaged with the buckle as when around the waist portion of thewearer;

Figure 9 illustrates a sectional view on line 9-9 of Figure 8; and

Figure 10 illustrates a perspective view of Figure 7.

Referring to Figure 1, numeral 10 represents a buckle constructed inaccordance with my invention, said buckle comprising horizontal bars 11and 12; cross bars 13 and 14; a hook 15 is bent over cross bar 13 andextends in an outwardly direction in relation to the buckle; 16represents belting material which may be of suitable textile banding,webbing, leather or plastic material; 17 represents perforationssuitably spaced longitudinally. Said perforations may be reinforced witheyelets or without eyelets in case of leather or plastic. The spacebetween the bent over hook 15 and the adjacent cross bar 13 issuflicient for the reception of two thicknesses of belting material 16in order to securely hold the belt around the waist portion of thewearer while the hook 15 noranally holds one thickness of the belting 16to the end portion of which the buckle is initially attached when thebelt is produced.

'ice

To provide a suitable belt to be worn in the interior of the waistportion of trousers, as described in my Patent No. 2,538,631 referred toabove, due consideration is to be given to the following details. Thebelt must possess an appreciable degree of rigidity in order to passthrough the tunnel loops, as shown in that patent, and the belt mustalso comprise a suitable degree of flexibility in order to flex aroundthe circumference of the body of the wearer. However, when the beltmaterial is rigid and a buckle is applied to the end portion thereof inthe conventional manner, as by looping the belting material around thecross bar of the buckle, the loop thus produced presents a bulge at thewaist portion of the wearer under the waist portion of the trousers andthe bulge presents an unsightly appearance. tirely eliminated when thebuckle is constructed in accordance with my invention and attached tothe belting material in a manner described in this specification.

Numeral 18 represents a portion of the belting material with which hook15 is initially engaged; it need not be disengaged therefrom unless thesize of the belt requires changing; numeral 19 is the end of saidportion 18; 20 is the opposite end of portion 21. It will be seen thatthe end 19 extends outwardly slightly further than the outer edge of thecross bar 14 when perforation 17 (second from end 19 in the drawing) isengaged with book 15. When it is desired to close the belt as when onthe body of the wearer the end 20 is passed under cross bar 14 and overportion 18 and pulled towards hook 15 and made to overlie said portion18; the belt is thus securely held around the waist portion of thewearer. However, when it is desired to adjust the belt to fit around asmaller circumference of a person, then end 19 is moved further beyondthe cross bar 14 .to correspond with the desired size adjustment and theperforation 17 then adjaeent to hook 15 is made to engage with saidhook, and when the belt is closed, portion 21 is overlying end 19 in itsextended position; the end 20 need not extend further than the outeredge of cross bar 13 to any great extent if desired, and thus the normalloop or keeper to hold the normally extended end of a belt may beeliminated. However, an additional cross bar may be provided at the endof the buckle suitably spaced in parallel relation with cross bar 13 andsuitably raised to keep end 20 of portion 21 in position, if desired.

To compensate for the two thicknesses produced when portion 21 is madeto overlap portion 18 cross bar 13 is depressed relative to the plane ofbars 11 and 12, while cross bar 14 is raised relative to said plane.

When the belt described is used as an inner belt for trousers asproposed in my Patent No. 2,538,631 it is desirable to have the bucklefabricated of non metal material to prevent discoloration of the Wearersundergarments which would be the result when metal buckles are used.However, the belt described hereinmay also be worn exteriorly around thewaist portion'of trousersor metal or non-metal material.

The book 15 may be bent over as described before or may be struck of thebuckle and formed in the shape of a tongue. The book 15 may be providedwith notches 22 to hold portion 18 more securely when perforation 17 isengaged with said hook.

Figures 7, 8, 9 illustrates a buckle of modified construction. Numeral23 represents the buckle comprising horizontal bars 24 and 25; crossbars 26, 27, 28 and 29; cross bars 26 and 29 are suitably raisedrelative to the plane of bars 24 and 25; cross 27 is suitably depressedrelative to said plane; numerals 30, 31 and 32 represent slots betweencross bars 26, 27, 28 and 29 respectively; hook 33 is formed of materialleft intact when slot 30 was produced, said hook is bent over cross Thebulge referred to is en-.

bar 27' inwardly in relation to the buckle while hook 34' is formed inthe same mannerand is made to'bend' over cross bar 28 in the oppositerelation to hook 33.-

through slot 31 downwardly and end 19 f portiou'lb is made to reachslightly beyond the outer edge of cross bar 29. By engaging tongue 33with the adjacent perfo ration 17 the buckle 23 is attached to portion18 of the belting 16.

When it is desired to close the belt; as'when on the body of the wearethe end 20 of portion 21 is inserted between the underside of cross bar29 and the adjacent surface of portion 18 and pulled towards hook 34,end 20 is passed over hook 33 and'under bar 26 outwardly. However,when'it is desired to adjust the belt to' fit around a smaller waistcircumference of a person, the end 19 is made to extend further beyondthe cross bar 29 to correspond with the desired size" adjustment and"the preforation 17 a'djacentto hook 33 is made to' engage with saidhook; when the belt is closed portion 21' of the belt is overlying end19, which is then in an extended position, as shown in Figures 8 and 9.In this modified construction an additional cross bar 26 is provided,suitably spaced from cross bar 27, thus providing slot 30 therebetween'.Cross bar 26 serves to keep in position end 20 of portion 21 and issuitably raised above the plane of bars 24 and 25. I

The belting 16 may be fabricatedin continuous rolls with theperforations 17 longitudinally spaced to correspond with theconventional adjustment spacings ofbelt perforations now in use. In thismanner the belting will be ready for use in this respect and thuseliminating the operation of perforating each belt separately; thebelting may thus be utilized for various belt sizes due to the'pre'seneeof perforations throughout the entire length of the belting.

It will be seen that the belting when fabricated of plastic possessingan appreciable degree of rigidity and when end 19 of the beltingextended beyond the cross bar 14, as clearly seen in Figures 3 and 6,said belting serves as a guide for the passage of end 20 of portion 21.

To provide a plastic belt which will resist stretching with use, theremay be incorporated in the belting strands 35 produced of anonstretchable desirable substance; in this manner the perforations 17will retain their original size.

The underside of the belt may have a rough surface toprovide a grippingmedium for retaining the wearers shirt over his hips and thus preventthe lower portion of his" shirt from slipping upward and outward overvthe: top of the trousers. Numeral 36 designates the roughened surface inFigures 6 and 9.

Although the hooks 15, 33 and 34' are illustrated-inthe drawing as beingformed as integral parts of thedescribed herein will be shaped so theyengage each other in adesirable manner. notched projection to engagewith the perforation may be provided with the buckle instead of the hookshown in the drawing.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of myinvention, it is understood that the same is susceptible of modificationin various forms without departing from the spirit and scope of myinvention. I therefore desire that what I claim be given broadinterpretation and be limitedconly'by the prior art pertaining thereto.

I claim:

A belt buckle adapted for'a'belt to be worn interiorly of the waistportion of the wearers garment; said belt comprising fiat beltingmaterial of appropriate length and having perforationas at the endportions thereof; said buckle comprising a frame having upper and lowerhorizontal bars connected by oppositely disposed vertical end bars atthe respective side ends of said buckle frame; intermediary verticalbars spaced in relation. to oneanother disposed between said end barsand spaced therefrom; one of said intermediary. bars being depressedwith respect to said end bars and a secondin termediary bar'beingdepressed with respect to the. first mentioned depressed intermediarybar; the second mentioned intermediary bar having a projecting memberextending substantially to the level of the first mentioned intermediarybar; the first mentioned intermediary bar havinga projecting memberextending substantially to the" level of the adjacent vertical end bar;the first mentioned projecting member being' adapted to engage with aperforation of one of said end portions of the belt material to retainthe belt material thereto; the second mentioned projecting member beingadapted to engage with a perforation of the opposite end portion of saidbelt material, thus closing the belt; the characteristic of the beltbuckle structure being so that the horizontal bars of the buckle frameare substantially level with the portion of each of said end portionsdisposed within the area of said buckle frame when the belt is closed,whereby bulging at the-region of the buckle frame with respect to thebody of the wearer and the adjacent waist portion of the garment isreduced to a minimum.

References Cited in the file of this-patent UNITED STATES PATENTS237,314 Owen Feb. 1,1881

279,237 Freer June 12, 1883 602,951 Mealey Apr. 26; 1898 740,951 UhlrigOct. 6, 1903 1,489,502 Nichols Apr. 8, 1924 1,683,691 Mulock Sept. 11,1928 2,423,668 Wiethorn July 8, 1947 2,494,252 P'ease Jan. 10, 19502,513,886 July 4, 1950 2,632,894 Louis Mar. 31, 1953 V FOREIGN PATENTS60$;074 Great Britain July 15, 1948 However, a suitable-

